Download Ukraine: In Damage Control Mode (2005)

Ukraine: In Damage Control Mode (2005)
Matthew Raphael Johnson
This was written in 2005 when the failure of the Orange Revolution could not have been clearer. It took
less than 10 years for the same trick to again be played on Ukrainians, though this time with far more
violence. Watching the violence against police officers (who have no part in writing laws) was so
shocking that I could not watch for long. Even when their lives were endangered, they would not shoot
those offenders. This became suspicious to me. As it turns out, the protesters were taking a powerful
stimulant, Captigon, which causes paranoia, given out by the American embassy. This was a symbolic
realization on many levels – MRJ
ViktorYushchenko’s western appointed government has been dissolved now for 48 hours,
and it took the western media significantly less time than that to create and process a spindoctored account of this situation. Of course, no one who watches Ukrainian politics is in the
least bit surprised at the events of the last two days. The government of Yushchenko had not a
shred of legitimacy, and came into existence through street protests, concerts and a massive
media blitzkrieg orchestrated by some of the wealthiest men in human history.
Now, the western spin is that the dissolution of the Kievian puppet government had
something to do with “Russian interests” left over from the previous administration, and that
“Russian oligarchs” found themselves out of power, and thus willing and able to topple the
government. No one, of course, ever names names, for this is merely a vague spin, designed to
protect whatever integrity the Ukrainian political system ever had. It is terribly unfortunate, as a
writer with some ethnic roots in Ukraine, to be forced to come to the conclusion that Ukraine
was so easily manipulated precisely because she does not have at present a mature political
tradition, at least not one the west would approve of.
The reason why Yushchenko was chrisimated the new “President” of Ukraine was that he
was the former head of the privately owned central bank, and thus had deep ties to the western
oligarchy that frankly controls much of the politics of the modern world. He was willing to lie
and to deal with the western powers. Primarily, he was offered the presidency in exchange for the
U.S. Navy to take over Sevastopol naval base, a de facto declaration of war on Russia. The
extent of this takeover remains to be seen.
Julia Tymoshenko was chosen because she is very attractive, and, besides that, a whore in
both the personal and political sense of the word, and will provide support to any political faction
that gives her the attention she craves. Her primary interest in being in the “opposition” to
Kuchma was that a) she faced prison for tax evasion if Yanukovych won, and b) she faced trial
for treason after she took “to the streets,” urging her supporters to occupy government buildings
and defy the government in general. Once she made the commitment to overthrow Kuchma, she
needed to stay in the “opposition” or face jail (and how the other female prisoners would have
liked that). How sickening it was to see that woman wearing the hair style of a Ukrainian peasant
woman, while privately mocking their virtues with her profligate sexual behavior and stealing
from them through her connections to the gas transit industry.
There is no real political ideology in Ukraine. Political parties are merely vehicles for the
power of one faction of millionaires over others. The adoption of political ideology mirrors
African tribal politics in the Cold War: tribes adopt a specific loyalty given the deal made with
them by one of the feuding powers. The loyalty to ideology goes no deeper than that. In Ukraine,
political entities, surrounding one more or less charismatic figure, chose a basic posture because
one or another faction seems more attractive to it for a time. Therefore, Yushchenko, the former
head of the Ukrainian central bank, realized that his own financial community, located in Britain
and controlled by the Rothschilds, were more likely to bankroll him than any other faction.
Therefore, he went with them.
It all makes sense, of course: A group of super rich, amoral and aideological individuals,
united only in a desire to develop connections to the west (where there is more cash than in the
east, for the moment), and as soon as power is taken, then split up into factions expressing a
certain financial or personal interest. Maybe Latin and Central America might also fit this model,
which would place Ukraine not in the west or east, but in the “banana republic” status her lack of
a mature political tradition places her.
On the other hand, the true opposition, the Rus' nationalist Party of Regions, for her many
flaws, are still agitating for the partition of Ukraine (my sources in the Crimea tell me that this
battle is “far from over,” regardless of its being ignored in the western press). Galicia is a cancer
to Ukraine, and belongs either as an independent state (sort of a eastern Slovenia), or a part of
Poland or Austria, where she can be as Latinized as much as she wants.
Pseudo-journalistic outlets such as the British Financial Times, editorializes as follows:
So Mr Yushchenko must make the best of the next few months to establish
himself as a credible manager. In particular, he must complete the reprivatisation
of Kryvorizhstal, the steelworks that has been taken back from the Kuchma
cronies to whom it was previously sold in a rigged auction. International steel
companies are among the potential buyers. A successful new sale would show the
new authorities are addressing the wrongs of the Kuchma regime and acting in a
transparent, business-friendly way.
These are the very same people who backed and supported the crony capitalism of
the Yeltsin administration (and even helped finance some of it). As soon as Putin
turned on the oligarchy, the Rothschilds saw their chance to control Russia
thwarted, and the “Russian government” suddenly was turned into “the Kremlin.”
Academics and journalists, bureaucrats all, merely repeated elite sentiment, as
always.
On the other hand, Putin is beginning a program, modeled on the Venezuelan experiment,
to plow oil wealth back into the country in new spending on education, environmental cleanup
and many forms of social insurance. Not surprisingly, far from praising this morally sound use of
the people’s money, western journalists, almost to a man, refer to this as a “cynical way to ensure
the election of his successor.” This is what being a “journalist” is like today.
The main fear is that Putin and Chavez are beginning a revolution of their own, and this
time, a real one, without the financial backing of the west, found in both the Bolshevik
revolution as well as the “Orange” one in Ukraine. This can only be called a national socialist (or
Social Nationalist, for those who do not like the association) revolution, one where the money
from natural resources is brought home to the people rather than to the Yushchenko’s and
Tymoshenko’s of the world. This has also been the case in Belarus and Burma, with
extraordinary results, particularly with high growth rates and low unemployment. All of this
prosperity and populist social thinking has been done in the face of the IMF and the World Bank,
and done through the endless threats of George Soros and his lap dog, John McCain in the U.S.
Let me be clear: the Regime did not bankroll the media-dubbed “Orange Revolution” so
that Ukraine can augment her independent status. The Regime bankrolled it so as to bring
Ukraine closer to its elite-led Euro-Atlantic alliance. The central lesson to take from the last two
years of Ukrainian history is that Ukraine does not have the intellectual infrastructure ready for
independent existence. Like so many times in Ukraine’s tragic history, she is a nation (to be sure)
without a chance for independence. She only may choose her overlord.
I’ve been studying political and ethnic nationalism for the entirety of my adult life. And
nowhere–I mean nowhere–have I come across a group of nationalists more shrill, more nasty and
more bereft of a relationship with reality than those from western Ukraine. Now, Ukraine means
little to the oligarchy except as a country of cheap labor and sex slaves. However, she proved
useful, as in Georgia, to act as a thorn in the side of Russia–the only real opponent of the EuroAtlantic oligarchy. Russia remains the only opposition to the Regime
Similarly Tymoshenko, worried about a possible trial for tax evasion, took up with her
former lover, Yushchenko, to try and overthrow that specific segment of the old guard (though it
should be added that the Ukrainian economy did very well under Kuchma, regardless of his other
problems). Tymoshenko is a whore in the broadest sense of the term: she will take up with any
faction that promises her attention, power and protection (the three things all women want who
are not under strong men–though not all three things are consistent with each other).
The recent spat over gas shipments to Ukraine is a central case in point, and this issue is
far from resolved as of this writing. Ukraine wants an independent existence, but still wants
subsidized gas from Russia. This is the gist of the argument with Gazprom, the state-owned fuel
giant. The Russians have responded oddly, accusing Ukraine of siphoning gas from Gazprom for
years. Ukraine has denied this, but have refused to permit Russia to inspect the equipment used
to transport fuel though Ukraine, which would prove whether or not Ukraine transported more
than it had paid for.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Yushchenko’s former lover, Tymoshenko, who fell
out with her partner as soon as it looked like his political career was in trouble, suddenly
resurfaced, and offered to be a mediation between Kiev and Russia. True to form, Tymoshenko is
disillusioned with the Oranges, and now is “playing the field” between Russia and Ukraine,
seeing who will give her the best deal. Furthermore, if Russia wins this game (which she likely
will), Tymoshenko will likely be out in the cold, without her precious gas interests which have
made her a billionairess and likely, has driven her insane. This is the reality of Ukrainian
“independence.”
Yushchenko, bereft of his former support, has not done what the Regime installed him in
power to do. He has removed Ukrainians from Iraq, denied the Regime use of the Crimean naval
bases (which was a condition of his installation) and has not opened up the Ukrainian economy
to foreign domination as he secretly promised. Now, according to very unofficial estimates, the
Ukrainian GDP is set to fall. Under Kuchma, the GDP was going up in by at least 10% yearly.
Yushchenko, hapless and bereft of the sexual support of Tymoshenko, is helpless, and is
considered a failure by nearly all political factions in Ukraine.
Making matters worse, Yushchenko made the error of saying that Ukraine was “energy
independent,” and even offering to assist Moldavia (presently the poorest country in Europe)
with her energy difficulties. The unfortunate Ukrainian president needed to be reminded that this
was not the case. Not long after, his government, for the second time in less than a year, was
voted out of office by the central Rada.
What is to be done? Presently, there is on hope for an independent Ukraine. She will
either be a very junior player in the Regime, or be a part of Russia. There is no third option. The
best that can be taken from this is that Galicia and Transcarpathia form an independent Western
Ukrainian Republic, with its own Orthodox patriarch recognized by all Orthodoxy, based in
Lv’iv. There is certainly precedent for this in Ukrainian history, as there was an Independent
Western Ukrainian Republic created shortly after World War I, though it was short lived. Eastern
Ukraine, including the Crimea, should become an independent nation closely allied with Russia,
having its religious life deriving from the metropolitan based in Kiev, and having its internal
politics based on previous Cossack principles taken from the Sich.
Ethnically, the former state will be Ukrainian and Polish, while the latter will be evenly
split between Ukrainian and Russian. Thence, the Ukrainian Cossack republic will be able to
take advantage of the extraordinary prosperity just starting to get off the ground in Russia, with
major increases in disposable income and GDP. Her metallurgical industry will be highly
profitable with subsidized fuel, while the Galicians will begin developing her highly profitable
soil, with free peasant farms, owned, with state assistance, by the farmers themselves. There is
very little left to contemplate with the complete disintegration with the foreign financed Orange
Revolution (otherwise known in Russian circles as the Banker’s Revolution).
The Soros/CIA bankrolled “Bankers Revolution” (occasionally called the Orange
Revolution) fizzled in a bizarre haze of personal pettiness and corruption. On the other hand,
non-establishment sources have been oddly quiet about matters. Perhaps this is also normal,
partially because nothing was a surprise. The same CIA-organized “demonstrations,” planned in
advance for months, against Lukashenko, and partially because it doesn’t matter insofar as actual
policy is concerned.
Ukraine has always been a tough place to follow. Unlike Russia under Putin or Belarus
under Lukashenko, there seems to be actually no specifically ideological cast to this group of
bankers and oligarchs created in Washington D.C. and New York. There seems to be no actual
policy, defined in terms of broad overall goals that can be written down. A handful of dilettantes
in the press refer to the “ideas of Orangeism,” without, of course, ever bothering to explain what
these were. If there were a set of ideals, then one can examine and critique them. None exist. In
fact, one might speculate that the Regime found this particular group of political whores
appealing precisely because they were so malleable. The presidency of Ukraine is like one big
academic search to fill a position: malleability and conformism will win over actual vision and
ability every time.
In many ways too, the elections in Belarus overshadowed Ukraine’s; the Regime believes
it has a case against Minsk, but, of course, the mess in Kiev is the Regime’s own making, and
they could not care less. Keeping Russia and Belarus from creating an oil-rich, well educated and
Orthodox trading bloc from forming is the one and only concern, and this, and this alone,
explains the harsh, dogmatic and utterly nonsensical rantings coming out of the Heritage
Foundation or the Bradley Foundation’s kept grantees. This explains the bizarre circumstance
where all major western writers and analysts spout the same position about a controversial issue.
Whenever that happens, something is afoot.
Significantly, in terms of economic performance, Ukraine falls well behind Belarus in
certain key areas, and this has everything to do with western meddling, a lack of vision and a
deeply divided country that cannot remain independent and has no unified political tradition to
fall back upon.
Firstly, the economic growth, speaking in terms of GDP, was a disaster given the
dynamics of developing economies. Ukraine grew just about 2%, far below inflation. Belarus,
however, grew nearly 10% over the same time period. I might speculate that this has something
to do with a strict state oversight capacity over economic investment which Ukraine lacks, and
will lack for the foreseeable future, given that the oligarchic control over the economy (thereby
negating, a priori, and experiments with theoretical “democracy”).
Secondly, Ukrainian unemployment hovers around 10%, according to the CIA (who
should know), while Belarus, according to the World Bank, has an unemployment rate of just
over 1%. Thirdly, Ukraine does have a budget deficit amounting to about 2% of GDP. Not bad,
really, as far as deficits go, but Belarus, of course, enjoy a surplus.
A few years ago, Belarus struggled with inflation, partially because of substantial GDP
growth “overheated” the economy (in that odd world of economic vocabulary). That, thankfully,
has been brought under control, and hovers now around a relatively pleasant 3 or 4%.
Unfortunately, the ideals of Orangeism seem to have had no affect on that either, for inflation is
around 11% per year, meaning, given the poor GDP growth rates since the old guard left office,
that Ukrainians are quickly losing buying power and are getting poorer, despite the well touted
and funded “ideals” of the “Bankers Revolution.”
Finally, while Belarus’ credit rating goes up and up (even opposed to the endless and dirty
political pressure brought to bear on some of these agencies), Ukraine’s held steady, while the
Ukrainian press says that the agencies who rate these things have expressed “some concern.”
Russia is daily said to be “in crisis” or on the verge of “collapse” while Ukraine is given
optimistic treatments with no rational foundation.
After the elections stolen by the Soros/CIA combine in 2004, the Regime smugly
declared Yanukovych dead politically. Those, however, who actually know something about the
region knew otherwise, and sought to monitor the seething resentment of the poor Russophiles of
the east and south. We all knew that this was not over, but, as soon as the Orangemen sputtered
within months of taking office, the opposition was quickly given a new lease on life.
Unsurprisingly, as the head of the Party of Regions began accusing the Orange regime of
rigging elections, and deliberately refusing to fill vacancies in the Election Commission. The
yawns of the American press were discernible. For some polling stations, the number of voters
“accidentally” left off lists reached as high as 60%, depending on how solid the support for
Yanukovych might be. Of course, not a peep about this in the English language press.
When one considers the 26% of Yanukovich’s party, and adding the small but significant
gains by communist and other more or less “pro-Russian” parties, it seems that, at the very least,
the Blue coalition can block some of the more crazy designs of the American-led forces in Kiev.
This includes the bizarre desire for Ukraine to join NATO, which is a bit odd given that the
Oranges were quick to pull Ukrainian forces out of Iraq very soon after taking office, a move
tolerated by Washington so long as nothing else came of it. For the time being, Yanukovych can
resist such attempts, and that alone provides some comfort.
Regardless of what happens in the immediate future, Ukraine, as it stands, is an artificial
country, in the sense it cannot be a united nation unless Civil War destroys separatist tendencies
there, very much like the War Between the States in the U.S. Western Ukraine should be an
independent state, run by Lv’iv, and possessed of its own patriarch recognized by other bishops
in orthodoxy. The East and South should form a loose confederation with Russia and Belarus,
with an independent church run by the metropolitan of Kiev. Otherwise, Russia watchers,
whether of the realistic or the wishful-thinking kind, will have more of the same to look forward
to in the future.